Like unpopular shows that need to run their course,Trump and Clinton were what we had, and for this electioncycle, they filled the slot. “We haven’t had an election inrecent modern history where both parties have put upsuch unpopular candidates,” says Nadia E. Brown, anassociate professor of political science and African-American studies who specializes in American politicsand women in politics. “It’s not just Trump. Hillary Clintonis also an unpopular figure.”Brownell notes, however, that castoff shows oftenhave a loud minority fighting for them—much like thisyear’s presidential candidates. The fact that they’re notlike other prominent or favored candidates has appeal forsome voters.

“You have a lot of people who are just really unhappy
with the political and economic system right now. They’re
frustrated by not being able to bring about the desired
change they want,” she says. “It’s an environment in which
being a political outsider has really resonated.”

By Brian Wallheimer. Illustrations by Terry LaBan.

Focusing solely on who’s ahead, whether on the field or
on the track, leaves little room for in-depth deliberation.

When we learn little about real issues, Scudder says, we
have no reason to engage and possibly change our minds
about a candidate. “We’re tuning in to watch these two
rivals duke it out, and only one side can win, and you want
your side to come out on top,” Scudder says. “The sports-like aspect of politics may get more people involved, but
may also undermine meaningful debate.”

Anything in the Friday night “death slot”

In the 1980s and 1990s, the ABC network dominated Friday
night television with shows like Falcon Crest and Miami
Vice, and later its TGIF-branded block of shows, which
included Full House, Perfect Strangers, and Family Matters.

The “death slot” designation suggested a show going up
against that lineup as doomed to failure.

These days, the Friday night death slot is where
unpopular or low-rated shows tend to go to die, no matter
the network. Lots of viewers have other plans on Friday
nights, so the remaining episodes of a show that have
already been produced can fade away in this slot.

STYLE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Walk into a house, and the white walls with bold accents say that
the person who lives there is modern and adventurous. The barn
board walls elicit feelings of rustic, simpler times, and maybe a bit
of nostalgia.

The designers on HGTV know these cues, and every remodeling
project is an attempt to tap into strong emotions. Designers for
presidential candidates do the same thing, subtly, with their campaign
materials. The typefaces candidates choose to declare “I’m with her” or
“Make America great again” also communicate the characteristics the
candidates hope the electorate will perceive in them.

Matias Ferrari Carlevari, who finished his master’s degree in visual
communications design in the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and
Performing Arts last year, used his final exhibition, “Type for Minds,”
to test a theory that the type and weight of a font used in political
materials can imply certain attributes about a candidate. He created a
fictional candidate named “John Lambert” and used two serif and two
sans serif fonts, in both bold and regular weight, to see what survey
participants would perceive or feel about Lambert under different
conditions. (Serif fonts have small lines attached to the end of a stroke
in a letter; sans-serif fonts do not.)

“Candidates have to use every tool available at their reach to beeffective in a small amount of time,” Ferrari says. “It’s not just aboutshowing your name. You have to be positioning yourself in people’smind in a positive way.”Ferrari especially appreciated Democratic primary candidate BernieSanders’s choices, with a mixture of Jubilat and Freight Sansfonts. “In terms of visual communication, I think Bernie had the mostsuccessful logo,” Ferrari says.

Democrat Hillary Clinton used a modified version of thesans-serif typeface Gotham dubbed as atribute to Helvetica—a popular and beloved typeface. Ferrari saysHillvetica looks outdated and “doesn’t resonate today.”Republican candidate Donald Trump had the strongest visualelements of the two remaining candidates, Ferrari says. The “MakeAmerica Great Again” slogan is in a strong, if not flashy, sans serif calledFF Meta. And his “TRUMP” logo used a sans serif font that his criticsmay consider appropriately named: “Akzidenz-Grotesk.”